00:00 A show and tell and a show of force at state parliament.
00:09 Just under six months until the next state election, Labor's introduced a raft of proposed
00:14 law changes including youth justice.
00:16 We're changing the laws to be very clear to the public and to the courts that community
00:21 safety is our priority.
00:23 Trying to neutralise an attack from the LNP, the Premier's announced the government will
00:28 remove its own 2016 provision that a child should be detained only as a last resort.
00:34 The existing wording was undermining confidence in the courts and in the laws.
00:39 The government is replacing the detention of last resort clause with a new one that
00:43 says a child should be detained where necessary, including to ensure community safety where
00:48 other non-custodial measures wouldn't be sufficient.
00:52 The opposition says it won't change much.
00:54 But it's a change in form, not a change in substance.
00:58 Even the government's own documents state they're just clarifying provisions and are
01:02 not intended to change the law.
01:04 Gone.
01:05 That's how you get rid of detention, as a last resort.
01:09 Not re-wording it.
01:10 Either way, youth advocates are disgusted.
01:13 This is just a political manoeuvre and a desperate grab for power.
01:20 Neither party is doing anything that will make the community safer.
01:23 Mr Miles can't say if there'll be more kids in detention.
01:26 That's hard to say.
01:27 We have seen and always see fluctuation in the number of people in detention.
01:32 It'll be up to the courts to interpret the law changes when they pass.
01:37 But members of the legal sector already believe there will be an impact.
01:41 Our expectation is that more young people will be in jail.
01:45 We have the highest rates of youth detention in the country and it's not working because
01:49 detention is not rehabilitative.
01:51 On the streets of Brisbane, opinions are divided.
01:54 One warning and then yeah, lock them up.
01:58 Same as an adult I guess.
01:59 Well I don't think locking them up is doing much.
02:02 These children need support.
02:05 I mean people's lives are complicated.
02:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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